Born blind, Eram could only stare at a dark future. Since her parents couldn’t afford to send her to school, Eram would make do with her “best friend”, a Rs 400 radio set.
Eram says, it’s her radio that has kept her alive. “I started listening to the radio when I turned five. I take a keen interest in all contests that come on FM radio. Radio jockeys are my friends,” she tells you. Till date, Rumana has won over 250 radio contests.
“I have collected all the gift hampers I got as prizes. They mean the life to me,” she says, adding that although the hampers may not have any money value, she has a lot of emotional attachment to them. Rumana’s love for cricket and her understanding of the game paid dividends.
“I owe it to my younger brother and my family who have supported me in every way possible. During my younger days, I was teased about my condition. So much so that I became a recluse. I would lock myself up to keep away from other children. But my mother taught me to face the world. My brother taught me technicalities of cricket and my father would make sure that the radio was repaired as many times as I broke it,” an emotional Rumana says on phone from Sultanpur.
Having won the bat signed by Team India players and also gifts worth Rs 25,000 through the Big Cricket Champions’ contest on 92.7 Big FM, Rumana now wants to participate in Kaun Banega Crorepati. The young achiever says she has everything it takes to sit on the hot seat. “If I get a chance, I will win Rs 1 crore,” Rumana says. Reading, Mr BachchanIJ